It will be so easy.

Roll tape of Hillary saying:

(she really did say this, it's caught on tape and making the rounds at youtube)

<link>

"The way that I read Genesis, Cain was marked, therefore I believe in white supremacy"

Then laugh and say. "Yes, she really said it! In 2006! Maybe in context, it doesn't sound quite as crazy. But still, you have to wonder, why would an experienced politician use a garbage line like that, for any reason?"

Good-bye Hillary's chances at the presidency.

Now, the big question... does anyone have the balls and the money to air this in swing states? I bet there's at least a few rich republicans willing to pay money to put this on the air, or a similiar variation.

Yes yes, I know die-hard Hillary supporters will find it to be a dirty tactic... but you gotta admit, that line will drop her popularity about 5 percentage points.

And this is only the tip of the iceberg as far as the dirty tactics Hillary will be up against. Can Hillary really fight it? All of it? I doubt it.

Lame.

...and insidious. Some people just don't care WHAT they say or do.

Unless Hillary is caught, on tape, beating a child, her popularity will not drop. Unless she is proven, on tape, to make a blind man see, her popularity will not increase.

Hillary is like a stock moving sideways. She has all the buyers she's going to get at the moment, she is not attracting any more. No one who has bought Hillary stock wants to sell. She will hold her position until a market correction occurs. As a stock she has no momentum in either direction.

People not already in a Hillary position are looking to buy either shares of Obama or Edwards currently, hence their recent price surges. They seem to only be drawing from the pool of undecideds who have not entered the market yet.

All Hillary can hope for now is that Obama and Edwards stock will be diluted for the first few critical nomination processes, and Obama and Edwards buyers will become bearish and finally sell their stock and move into Hillary stock.

Back to you Maria Baritolomo!

That is an even-handed assesment, an one I agree with. I would add however, that one false move by any of the top three could cause a shif to any one of them. And that any one of them could trounce anyone the other side could dream up.

It's not just "die-hard Hillary supporters" that will find this sort of bullshit a dirty tactic. Anyone with even an ounce of self-respect and honesty would find this a dirty tactic.

Taking quotes like this that far out of context are assinine.

If anyone can take on these liars, it's the Clintons. They've done it for the last 15 years, and done it pretty successfully.

I think you're right for the moment. The races seem so tight, that anyone screws up in some way, there could be a big shift in the market. (I hate to drag this stock analogy around this far, but I think it works.)

This is why I would not be surprised to see a Democrat suddenly "discovering" some terrible secret about another Democrat, say a week before Iowa. It seems that Clinton was trying this, by getting cute about Obama's supposed 3rd grade ambition to be prez, and that backfired on her. I believe that she has the toughest poltical machine in the whole Dem party, and she'll use it. I wouldn't be surprised if a "scandal" breaks just in time for Iowa that she "has nothing do with," like a woman in Obama's past or something.

I believe that she has the toughest poltical machine in the whole Dem party, and she'll use it. I wouldn't be surprised if a "scandal" breaks just in time for Iowa that she "has nothing do with," like a woman in Obama's past or something.

If it does happen, I'd say it's only fair. Obama did the same to the Clinton campaign early on - except that with the Obama camp- they were actually proud that they were the ones who leaked it to the press. I agree with you the the Clinton campaign will be a little more discrete.

let's just put it this way....this is NOT controversial....so i really don't know what you are so damn happy about.

so yeah this is pretty lame as stated above

who do you think you are?

It's not controversial because no one is exploiting it yet. Nobody thought John Kerry's service in vietnam would be used against him, certainly not John Kerry himself. These things have a way of surprising people who dismiss the risks.

I think you're seriously underestimating 1. how devious hillary's enemies will be, and 2. how poorly this line will play to key demographics.

And again... this is just one of her many recent gaffes. She may have some other juicy lines that can be shredded in the hands of Rove-style operatives.

you sound so hopeful

but i think you will be disappointed

you forget the clintons KNOW HOW TO FIGHT BACK and are not afraid to do so.

good luck

I would say the Slate editor is lame to give this thread life. She must be supporting Hillary.

To the extent that there is any relevancy in the comment, it is not vis-à-vis racism, but Mormonism. As was detailed in the 1978 Supreme Court ruling on Mormon Boy Scout policies, Mormons historically have taken a patronising view of blacks, as the Book of Moroni teaches that blacks suffer the mark of Cain, and therefore deserve sympathy and care to save them from their true natures. It is Mormonism and the broader US debate on religion and politics that appall. Mrs Clinton, nonetheless, appears to have built her and her husband's career through a process that permits them to expose themselves, take mockery, and then gain the upper hand in shouting down the most lame and abusive of the abuses that are rendered against them. Greatness never follows such people, but today's US media will and, lacking independence or journalism, it clearly can create greatness. Regard Bill Clinton.

During a quick break at the dinner table here, we just discussed this Hillary-as-target phenomenon. A comparison has popped up about her and Condoleeza Rice; both are impervious to criticism or attack. Both just keep moving. Is this stamina or determination founded in self-confidence? Or is it a false sense of themselves? Or is it the result of modest gifts being indulged by parents of even more modest wits?

As any schoolchild knows, these annoying types play teachers' pets up through high school, when they begin to hit more intransigient and less subjective obstacles/setbacks. Then they build alliances, often on the backs of those who are dimmer, but are soon bound in symbiotic loyalty or blackmail.

Could such a personality really take an objective look at the Iran dossier, take sound counsel, and render leadership? Could such a personality truly assess long-term financial and/or security risks and permit their personality to suffer slings and arrows for difficult policies after a lifelong battle to be at the top of the class?

Both made the grads required to advance through their academics, but as any teacher/professor knows, the gifted ones demonstrate something else.

hommesuisse:

During a quick break at the dinner table here, we just discussed this Hillary-as-target phenomenon. A comparison has popped up about her and Condoleeza Rice; both are impervious to criticism or attack. Both just keep moving. Is this stamina or determination founded in self-confidence? Or is it a false sense of themselves? Or is it the result of modest gifts being indulged by parents of even more modest wits?

As any schoolchild knows, these annoying types play teachers' pets up through high school, when they begin to hit more intransigient and less subjective obstacles/setbacks. Then they build alliances, often on the backs of those who are dimmer, but are soon bound in symbiotic loyalty or blackmail.

Could such a personality really take an objective look at the Iran dossier, take sound counsel, and render leadership? Could such a personality truly assess long-term financial and/or security risks and permit their personality to suffer slings and arrows for difficult policies after a lifelong battle to be at the top of the class?

Both made the grads required to advance through their academics, but as any teacher/professor knows, the gifted ones demonstrate something else.

1, 2, 3, 4, stretch! stretch! stretch! stretch!

repeat! 1, 2, 3, 4, stretch! stretch! stretch! stretch!

That was good exercise! Thanks hommesuisse for leading us through our stretching exercises!